


Sideline Stories: Big Brother (Mike)

by UnicornAffair



Series: Wild Pitch [11]
Category: Power Rangers (2017), Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M, small bit of Gia Moran, the other samurai characters are there as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 05:11:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: A closer look at the friendship between Trini and Mike of the GSA. Ever since Dare Night, Mike always had Trini's back...only she didn't realize the senior boy had been looking out for her for quite some time.AKA some bonus content for Wild Pitch, (Up to chapter 18 for context)





	Sideline Stories: Big Brother (Mike)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Olemonade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olemonade/gifts).



> So this is a SUPER bonus chapter of the sideline stories series/wild pitch. It wasn't one I was planning on doing but as some of you may know that I've been working two jobs and some pretty extreme hours over the past month or so. I really wanted to give back to the people who've really been supportive and...well, writings all I got haha. So I hope you all enjoy :)
> 
> Happy Holidays!

Mike first met Trini back in October, a week or so after the Homecoming dance when the Gomez family had first moved to Angel Grove. The Fernandez’s also attended St. Austin’s regularly and with a new family in the perish, Mrs. Fernandez was quick to invite the Gomez family over for dinner to get them acquainted to the neighbourhood. Trini looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there, the type of miserable teenager who wanted nothing to do with her family. Mr. Gomez opened up a lot once Mike’s father started to brag about Mike’s position on the baseball team. Ha, Trini only perked up once Mike stated that he had a girlfriend. So she thought it was a setup. He honestly wouldn’t put it past his mother, back when Mike was single she would try to meddle into his dating life; _especially_ when she learned that most of his closest guy friends are gay-or somewhere on the spectrum. When Mike came home with pierced ears one day she damn near had a heart attack and clutched onto her rosary for the rest of the evening. Over the years his family had gotten better at accepting Mike’s friends as long as _he_ wasn’t the gay one...hell he was sure his mother liked his girlfriend, Emily, more than him on most days.

It wasn’t long after that Trini was outed via a picture photo copied hundreds of times and spread around the sophomore hallway. Mia Watanabe was absolutely _furious_ at the blatant attack on the new girls sexuality, the GSA spent two years working on trying to make Angel Grove better for people who were different and now this shit was starting again. This was his senior year, he thought he would be free of this. He had already lived through the _saga_ of Jayden and Mia falling apart, of Jayden dating Antonio for a hot second only for Antonio to mess that up...Lauren’s dating Mia, Jayden’s dating Kevin...it had been a _long_ two years of drama within the group let alone all of the hate they received for just being _out_. Mike and Emily soon became losers by association to the gaymo club, but neither minded...even if it did blow any of their chances to win Homecoming Court. These people were their family, and it was clear they needed to adopt a new member.

Trini had been overwhelmed by how close this GSA club actually was that she was ready to quit on them after a quick thirty second introduction. It was Lauren who coaxed her into coming in and observing with promise of free pizza. Hey, food always made Mike feel better. She listened in as they explained their relationships with one another. Antonio silencing Emily before she could tell a lot of her story with Mike...it was rude, but as the straight ones in the group it wasn’t about them. Mike and Emily knew their place in the group, they were the ones with the privilege and as much as they wished things could be better for their friends they simply didn’t have to deal with it first hand. The couple could hold hands out in public or kiss without judgement passing down on them. As strong as Trini was trying to appear, Mike could see through it, she was scared...angry...her entire world was flipped on her. After experiencing with his friends first hand, he knew how important coming out was...this wasn’t on her terms, she looked so damn broken.

That was the day Mike saw what was written on her locker first hand. The metal door had been covered in slurs, all in different handwriting… _‘dyke’ ‘loser’ ‘go back over the border’_ it made him sick just to look at it. The swim team felt uncomfortable with Kevin being in the guys locker room, the only reason they tolerated him was that he was the _best_ damn swimmer Angel Grove had seen in years. Antonio’s dad kicked him out of the house, Mia’s family had struggled coming to terms with her daughter’s interest in a girl...then there was the Shiba siblings. Fuck. Mike went to the bathroom and grabbed a bunch of paper towels, wetting them and pounding on the soap dispenser to try and lather the feeble material with as much suds as possible.

Mike started with the disgusting border comment first, that one striking a familiar chord with him. With one hand braced against the locker beside Trini’s he put all of his strength into trying to erase the awful hate plaguing her. To no avail, the stupid paper towel was coming apart in his hand and the words were _still_ there, practically mocking him for failing. What the fuck? It would’ve been so much better to rip the damn thing off of it’s hinges. Not enough soap, that had to be it.

A gentle hand on his shoulder pried his focus on the hateful door, he turned his head to see his petite blonde girlfriend with a spray bottle and a proper cloth in hand. “I thought I’d find you here” Her voice quiet, gentle as she offered her boyfriend the spritzer, “Mr. Parry let me borrow this” Emily understood Mike more than anyone, he hardly even _knew_ Trini and he wanted to protect her from _this_. “Do you want me to help?”

Mike shook his head, “No, I want to do this” He felt so damn powerless in helping his friends. He could never _truly_ understand what they went through on an everyday basis; but what he could do could clean a damn locker. The proper cleaning chemicals and a sturdy cloth was all he needed to scrub off the homophobic and downright racist comments. Emily, for her part, stood to the side, rubbing his free shoulder to support him...to calm him down. Once the locker was finally clear of filth, Mike rested his forehead up against the cool metal door. The rag cloth held tightly in his grip, he needed to take a breath, whoever did this needed to be kicked in the dick.

Emily gently pried the cloth out of his fingers, “Do you want to get some milkshakes at Ernie's?” After two years, she knew the best way to comfort Mike Fernandez was through his stomach. He slowly nodded in response, pulling himself away from the locker, he needed to take a step back and away from this. Mike could go for a mint chocolate chip milkshake, two straws, with the best damn girl in the world.

From that day on Trini Gomez had someone watching her back.

 

*****

 

There were a couple of rules for the GSA secret santa pull. One, a person couldn’t pull their own name, two because there were so many people in established relationships in the group-if a partner was picked the name would have to be returned to the hat. Lauren and Mia, Kevin and Jayden, Emily and Mike...they would all be getting presents for their significant other anyway. It was to make the single people in Antonio and Trini feel better about this whole holiday celebration. WIth Mike getting Mia and Emily getting Trini, the couple thought it was a good idea to swap names so Emily could get her best friend. That was _more_ than okay, he knew exactly what to get the underclassmen.

The last Thursday before winter break was chosen to be their holiday party. The girls decorated Mr. Yost’s room to get in the holiday spirit, Mia thought it would be fun to buy Santa hats in the colors of the rainbow as a perfect way to combine GSA and the Christmas spirit. Of course she _didn’t_ think of the potential arguments that would ensue right at the get go as certain people in the group shared a favorite color. With Lauren and Jayden going straight for the red one first, it turned the siblings against each other.

“Why would _you_ automatically get the red one?” As mature as both Jayden and Lauren came off, 90% of the time, when it came to who got to don the red hat...the most _important_ color when it came to Santa and Christmas all bets were off.

“Because red’s _my_ favorite color” Jayden wasn’t going to budge on this.

“And you don’t think red is _my_ favorite color?” Lauren had a point, that wasn’t the most valid argument.

Kevin and Mike exchanged glances, neither of them were getting in the middle of this, hell no. The two boys went for the unclaimed blue and green ones as quietly as possible. Like mature adults, Emily let Trini have the yellow hat despite it being her personal favorite in favor of the turquoise one. Antonio really didn’t have much of a preference so he was perfectly fine for the orange one. Mia, of course went for the pink Santa hat before she even gave the others options...with eight members of the GSA and only seven colors of the rainbow she had to improvise an extra color.

“Are you two five?” With a digital camera in hand Mia was prepared to take a group photo to make this pleasant memory last a lifetime...and to submit for the yearbook. “Jayden” The president narrowed her eyes at her ex-boyfriend, “Give your sister the damn Santa hat” With everyone else claiming one the only one _left_ was the purple one, she held it in her hand and shook it at him until he reluctantly took it. “I’m going to be on the end with Lauren, then Antonio, Trini, Mike, Emily, Kevin, Jayden”

Pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple. Members of the GSA looked at each other, most thinking the same thing. Kevin, the brave soul was the one to ask the question, “Shouldn’t pink go after purple? Why would it be before red?”

“It’s aesthetically pleasing, I want this photo to be _perfect_ . Girl, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, boy” Mia didn’t even freaking blink, there was _no_ arguing with her when she wanted something done a certain way. It was just a photo, if she wanted to stand by her girlfriend with santa hats on, who were they to tell her no?

Since Mr. Yost had given them free reign of the room, so he wasn’t in to take the photo. Mia had to improvise with a timer and set the camera to take the photo after 12 seconds so she could have enough time to saddle up next to Lauren. Easier said than done. Between blinking, not looking cute enough, and Jayden _not_ smiling with his teeth Mia had _something_ to complain about. Fifteen minutes felt like an _hour_ until the club president was happy with the GSA family Christmas photo.

“Can we do _one_ fun one?” After all that torture trying to take the nice family photo, Mike wanted to something that felt more organic to the group. To people in this club they didn’t _have_ much of a family to go to, this was it, and even after high school these were the people that would stick together. Jayden and Lauren didn’t have parents, Antonio was kicked out of his home...Mia wanted this meeting to feel special as they didn’t have much of a holiday of their own. Years from now they would be repeating this tradition...by then Trini would have herself a girlfriend and whoever Antonio would date could take the photo.

Emily and Mike had _plenty_ of cute couple picture practice so for this one she jumped onto his back. He supported her legs as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders for balance. Antonio frowned, Mike _always_ wanted to show off how damn strong he was. He looked to the girl next to him, “Can I pick you up?”

Trini stared at him, completely unconvinced, “ _Can_ you?” Was Antonio physically able to hold her for the twelve seconds? Mike wasn’t totally sure either. Not everyone could be as awesome as him. He could totally hold Trini while Emily was on his back no prob...but it was the holiday, he wasn’t going to call Antonio out like that.

“Yeah it’ll be fun” He grinned, she hesitantly nodded, agreeing to this insanity. Antonio scooped her up and held her bridal style, grinning like a moron until he realized Mia was still going through the settings of her camera. _Really woman?_ The twelve seconds hadn’t even _started_ yet. Mike tried to stifle a laugh at poor Antonio’s misfortune.

“Don’t you _dare_ drop me” Trini warned, quietly enough through gritted teeth that the only ones that could hear her were standing directly next to her.

Mia started the twelve second countdown and stood in front of Lauren, her girlfriend wrapping her arms around her. Kevin thought he’d be cute and kiss Jayden’s cheek-- _finally_ the oh so stoic and brooding Jayden genuinely smiled for a photo. Mike and Emily of _course_ looked on point and Antonio managed to not drop Trini through all that ordeal, despite how badly his arms shook... _this_ made for the perfect frame worthy photo to submit to the yearbook.

Next was Mike’s favorite part, food and presents. Mia and Emily prepared fun holiday filled desserts and with a couple of pizzas from Zed’s they were living the high life. The only hitch the GSA ran into on the snack situation was Mia’s cookies. Poor Trini had to learn the hard way that their great president _sucked_ in the kitchen no matter how hard she tried. Over the years the four boys of the club had mastered how to put Mia’s food on their plates, and then hide it to dispose of later. Mean sure, but they didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Emily was a true trooper to actually try and stomach through it like a champion. Then there was Lauren, the _only_ one to actually genuinely enjoy Mia’s ‘talents’ in the kitchen. Mike didn’t understand it but hey statistically speaking _someone_ had to like it.

Mike was so excited when it was his turn to give his secret Santa present. He handed Trini an envelope, inside were bleacher seat tickets to his favorite team San Diego Padres vs her favorite team the Texas Rangers. He still had faith that he could convert her into his far better taste when it came to MLB teams. “Hopefully by baseball season you have a girlfriend you can take” His smile was bright, he had total confidence in Trini that this upcoming year would be _her_ year; and that good things would come for her. In total he bought four tickets, obviously two for himself and Emily and two for Trini and whoever she wanted to invite. Fingers crossed that it would be a special lady friend...if not Lauren always made for a great backup.

Trini’s lips twitched into a smile at the word _girlfriend._ The youngest member of the GSA surprised everyone by getting up from her desk and wrapped her arms around Mike in a thank you hug. “I ah, I have a couple of things I wanna say” Trini was always the type who would rather sit back and observe the others so when she _did_ have something she wanted to say it was pretty damn important. “Thank you guys for everything you’ve done for me. The past few months have been easier knowing I can come here and be around people who _get_ it”

By this time Mike had returned to his seat in the circle, next to Emily, so Trini could have the full attention of the entire group. “This holiday my mother’s family is coming up to stay with us. It’s going to be conservative central” Antonio frowned at that, they all knew how much she struggled with her mother...a gaggle of June Gomezs did not sound like a great way to spend Christmas. “I’m actually dreading it _a lot_ ” Her chest fell in a deep sigh, “My abuela has made it perfectly clear how much she doesn’t like “the gays”...if she ever finds out about me...I’ll pretty much be disowned” she rubbed the back of her neck, suddenly very aware of the entire group’s focus on her and her situation. “Ah what I mean, I guess, is that I’m glad I have this room where I can be myself…I really appreciate it, you guys’ve been awesome”

“We’re always here for you” Lauren smiled, “And if you need somewhere to go and escape for New Years you can come to our house” Shiba Grove was such a large home that for the past couple of years the GSA would all go over there to celebrate.

“Thanks, but ah” Trini sheepishly had to decline, “I have other plans” What a bummer. Setting off sparklers after midnight in the Shiba’s backyard was a fun way to kick off the new year...that of course came after the tradition of kissing someone special when clock struck twelve.

After the meeting and everyone had to say their goodbyes, Mike made sure to catch Trini before she had to go. He understood what it was like to have a large mostly conservative family. Just like Trini he had to look forward to an influx of Fernandez's coming up to visit. It was tradition in Mike’s house to have a big Christmas Eve party with his extended family. To him it meant good food and a great way to show off his girlfriend, hell it didn’t take much for him to find a way to have a fun time. Emily didn’t _have_ much family of her own, so she always enjoyed how lively the Fernandez family could be...even if she picked up enough Spanish to know when they were talking about her in front of her face. All good things, of course, mostly they teased Mike about how he shouldn’t let that one go.

“Hey, Trini wait up” He knew her mother would be waiting in the parking lot so he wanted to make this quick, “Look ah, if you ever need a fake boyfriend to make your mom’s family happy for a day” Mike offered, “I know how to impress”

“And Emily would be cool with that?” Trini rose a brow, even if she was capital g-gay she would imagine it would still be hard for the blonde to see her boyfriend of two years pretending to be with someone else. “Thanks, but through my experience it’s better to be nothing and constantly single than to deal with the drama of a beard. I don’t wanna lie”

The senior boy could respect that, but something about her statement bothered him, “You’re not nothing y’know”

“Ha…” Trini took a moment to adjust the bag on her shoulder, trying to hide the hint of a smile creeping up on her face; no matter how tough she tried to make herself appear to others she was just a big ol’softie inside. “My mom’s out waiting for me...I hope you have a good break”

“Sure” Mike let her go, “Catch you in 20-18 Trini G”

 

*****

 

Mike always knew that somewhere under that tough bravado Trini had game. He just didn’t realize how much. That baby gay girl managed to score the most popular girl of the sophomore class, _Kimberly Hart,_ Tommy’s ex-girlfriend. Ha! Was Mike a big fan of the mayor’s son? Not entirely; that boy bought the other baseball guys over for the position of team captain. How can someone compete with extravagant parties at the “lake house”. Douche. Being passed over for the position left Mike a bit sore on the topic of Tommy.

For as intimidating as a small close knit group of people could be, Kimberly gelled with them as if she had known them for a long time. She could even go toe to toe with Antonio’s flirtatious bullshit. Trini smiled more this meeting than she ever had. Mia couldn’t be more thrilled at the potential possibility of a new member of the club. She didn’t let it show, but she worried a lot about the future of the GSA as all of the founding members were on track to graduate this year. Mike wanted to like her just as much as everyone else, but something was holding him back, he didn’t totally trust her.

The club that day spoke of their own coming out stories, as the Harts were still unaware of her sexuality...or that she was having a romantic relationship with a girl. This was the part of the meeting where Mike and Emily knew that the _best_ thing they could do as allies of the group was to sit back and listen. Boy, every time they heard it, hearing the others stories didn’t get any easier. It didn’t help that Mia was the one that provided the food for the meeting, ugh, gross. For their first meeting back it got deep...Trini tugged at the groups heartstrings with a story on how one of her cousins found the incrimiating Kira photo. Even though Mrs. Gomez finally stood up for her, she was disowned by an entire _half_ of her family. Not exactly the _best_ way to spend the Christmas holiday. Just once he wished something in Trini’s life could go smoothly.

Mike waited until next week’s meeting so he could have a little one on one with the new girlfriend. “Hey, look, I don’t wanna be a dick about it but…” Trini was a pretty important part of the club and the poor girl didn’t need to have her heart broken again after going through so much shit around her. “You hurt Trini, well, let’s just say...you’ll be sorry”

Kimberly for her part took it pretty well, her brows furrowed in confusion as she tilted her head to the side, “Are you threatening me?” Uh yeah that’s exactly what he was doing, “I would _never_ hurt her” An ex-cheerleader who destroyed her friend group, mmm, he wasn’t completely convinced at face value but….if Trini trusted her he’d try. She _did_ have the sense to break things off with Tommy Oliver so that was a plus in the Kim for Trini column. “Are you seriously going to hurt a girl?”

“Ha…..” The senior boy was caught there, he _couldn’t_ he _wouldn’t_ ever hurt a girl that just went against every code but...shit...he definitely didn’t know what to say, what he _could_ do if she did break his friends heart. He swallowed hard, “No” God, it was so much easier threatening other dudes. He would gladly punch a guy for hurting any of his girls.

Emily caught the pair in the hallway, more importantly she caught what Kimberly had said last. The kind hearted blonde moved to stand at her boyfriend’s side, “Trini means a lot to this club, that’s all, we just want to look out for her” He knew she’d be on his side for this one. “We’re like a family”

“We’ll just make your life hell” Mike nodded, folding his arms and puffing out his chest to appear bigger than he was, only to get a scolding look from the girlfriend. What? He didn’t say _how_ they would make her life hell...leaving it open to interpretation would be the bigger threat.

“No….that is something we’re _not_ going to do. He’s kidding” Emily completely undercut him, oh he was _totally_ serious. “I’m so sorry about him” The betrayal.

“No, I totally get it” Kimberly sighed, with a solem shrug she continued, “I don’t exactly have the best track record but, please, understand that I want nothing but the best for Trini...I know that I’m lucky to have her” Emily glanced up to her boyfriend, praying that he would just drop it and leave it at that. “You guys are good friends for looking out for her” She cracked a smile, showing that she wasn’t too of put by this, “Am I free to go?”

Emily nodded, absolutely ruining Mike’s hardass bravado, allowing the girl to leave so she could have a private moment to turn to her boyfriend. “Seriously?” She shook her head, trying not to laugh, “I hope you never have daughters”

 

*****

 

Over the next couple of weeks, Kimberly proved that she was good to her word. For someone who was so down in the dumps at the beginning of the year she made a complete 180 by the time second semester hit. Trini was genuinely happy, she had the girlfriend, she made the softball team and was starting have an _actual_ relationship with her mother. Kim even sat in on more meetings, much to Mia’s delight. Trini and Kimberly made for a cute couple, a _good_ couple that much had been obvious. So she _was_ really cool, Mike had to admit that Trini scored big on the girlfriend lottery...not as well as he did, he had to be biasedly realistic.

Then came dare night, one of Tommy’s extravagant ways to try and extend an olive branch to the downtrodden softball team. Mike could freaking _feel_ the tension from the girls team, from Kimberly against Trini. He had _no_ hesitation in picking his tiny friend to be his partner for the night. They had a fun time, one where his entire goal was to make her smile without getting too much into _why_ her friends were so mad at her. Even Zack Taylor, her best friend, was even at odds with her...she really fucked up something...Mike took it as a personal mission to step up and be there for Trini G. Girl world could be freaking crazy. The thing that was eating away at Mike’s gut was the question in the back of his, and on Trini’s mind, was Tommy Oliver _really_ trying to win Kimberly over? Time to put a detective hat on and ask some questions to the person who spent all night with him.

During lunch was his best opportunity, he went over to the softball girl’s table, having to approach Miss Queen G, “Can I borrow you for a minute?” He needed to separate the blonde away from the rest of the group to talk dare night details. Mike noticed the notebook in Aisha Campbell’s hands, the Briarwood scorebook on the Angel Grove girls. So Trini passed it along and they were all discussing it. Nick Russell, that freaking creep, he was at the top of Mike’s list of dudes he wanted to punch in the face. Strike one, he wrote all that gross stuff to start with, strike two all of Mike’s friends were in there; Lauren, Mia, Emily, Trini, Kim...strike three he ranked Emily as a fucking _5?_ Douche.

Gia turned on the bench in one graceful movement, a brow raised, normally she would be expecting Jake Holling or other senior boys to pester her...not someone with a girlfriend. So, Mike wasn’t here to ask her out. It made her more willing to leave her friends and go with him, “You saran wrapped Jake’s car for me” It didn’t take her long to put two and two together on who was behind the prank against her not so secret admirer. “You’ve earned five minutes of my time. _Five_.” That was all he needed.

The two headed outside to the courtyard where they could get more privacy. Gia was far too interested in her phone to really be giving him the proper time of day, she didn’t even look up from the device to state, “I’m not going to go out with your friend Antonio if that’s what this is about” Wait what? Ugh, of _course_ the flirty bisexual of the GSA was trying to score with Gia. This news shouldn’t even surprise him.

“No that’s not…” Gia put up a finger, halting his words instantly. A smile tugged onto her lips as she turned her phone to side, she was now clearly watching a video, “Is this part of my five minutes?”

“It will be if you ask another dumb question” He didn’t doubt it, back during his sophomore year Gia was _very_ quick to shoot him down when he asked her to homecoming. This girl has _high_ freaking standards. “Emma’s been trying to get me to take her to the zoo for weeks now” she explained, “Did you know there’s a baby tiger there?” He did _not_ know, but it gave him a great cute idea for a date. “Tigers are my favorite animal” Looked like Emma knew how to sucker her best friend into getting what she wanted.

Mike waited patiently for the video to end, he knew if he interrupted her that his precious time would be docked. He wouldn’t put it past Gia Moran to _actually_ set her phone to count down...it was a tactic she used on Jake multiple times. Once she typed out a message, and returned her phone to her back pocket, that smile on her face returned to a scowl. There’s the Gia he was used to dealing with, “What do you want?”

“I want to know what happened with you and Tommy at Dare Night” He wasn’t going to beat around the bush about this one.

Gia’s eyes narrowed, she didn’t like the way that sounded, “Is Tommy saying something happened between us?” Locker room talk, a common problem in jock relationships, Gia’s first thought went there which was a red flag in Mike’s eyes. “Because _nothing_ happened. I’m not interested in immature boys, everyone knows I’m way out of his league” She surprised Mike by grabbing onto his jacket, “What is he saying?”

“Nothing!” At least no one was out here to witness this, damn Gia was strong when she was pissed. “I just want to know what happened... _did_ he try something?”

Gia studied his expression carefully, sussing out if he was lying to cover for Tommy. When she deemed Mike an honest man, she let him go, “We jumped into the lake, and then sat his car to warm up. Had a nice chat about girls.” She paused, “Girl. Singular. Do I look like the kind of person who wants to be bothered by love-drama?” No she certainly did not. “It was pretty pathetic to be honest. If he was with someone _else_ he’d definitely try and make a move. You understand. Setting the mood with a parked car, a night of mischief. I doubt you’d understand, Emily’s kind of a prude...no offense” Uh, definite offense, as it was also a dig at his sex life. Not that he would humor the likes of Gia with an answer to _that_ . “The guy’s hung up on Kimberly, if that’s what you want to know. Ohh...if he’s trying to _hide_ that by saying we hooked up”

“No one is saying that you hooked up” He repeated, he really needed to get her off of that train of thought, “...But if he does, I’ll shut him down”

“Hm” Gia nodded thoughtfully, she could believe that, “You really don’t like Tommy Oliver, do you?”

A guy out to steal Trini’s girl? Yeah, Mike wasn’t a fan. So the great Tommy Oliver was still in love with Kimberly Hart. Freaking fantastic.

 

*****

 

Man, did Trini look so down. A week had gone by and still it only seemed to be getting worse. It was time to pull out the big guns….chicken nuggets. On a day she didn’t have practice with Lauren and Aisha, Mike offered to take her out to eat instead. He wanted to make sure she was still eating first and foremost. He ordered two twenty piece chicken nuggets from McDonalds and asked for two of every dipping sauce they had, it was something he _always_ wanted to do but no one in the GSA seemed up for the ultimate taste off. Wusses.

“I can’t eat twenty of those” Trini blinked as the senior boy came to their booth, “Can _you_?”

“All the time” He shrugged as if it were nothing, he would work it off in the weight room later, he always did. “Now. Sauce off, we’re gonna see which one’s the best” If it took a stupid taste testing to get Trini’s mind off of Kimberly and Zack, he would be glad to help, “There’s eight sauces and twenty nuggets so, uh, with the other twelve it’s a free for all. We got Tangy Barbecue, “Signature”, Spicy Buffalo, Creamy Ranch, Habanero Ranch, Honey Mustard, Sweet n’Sour and just...straight up Pure Honey” Trini made a face at the last one, yeah that one didn’t sound so great either. “No you _have_ to eat it...if you wanna add ketchup as a ninth sauce that is your choice” He set the little honey container in front of her first, “I don’t trust the coke dispensers so milkshakes it is”

Trini was still hesitant about the pure honey situation, but that didn’t stop her from giving him a confused glance, “You don’t trust the coke dispensers?”

“You either get too much ice or something just feels off about it” Mike shook his head, “I can’t have a watered down off syrupy drink for something this important to me” He put a lot of stock into Trini’s pallet to determine _which_ sauce reigned supreme. Tommy Oliver had the money to keep an entire business open after hours for a stupid game, well Mike Fernandez had $20.00 to cover the meals, including the extra $7.56 for all the sauces. Big spender here. Emily Ava struck gold with this guy.

“Wait, hold up!” Trini reached over to stop Mike from opening up the spicy buffalo packet, a firm grip on his wrist, “You’re making _me_ start with a freaking thing of honey and you’re going for the good stuff? Nuh-uh” She wasn’t going to play those rules, “We’re doing these at the same damn time”

“Alright, alright fine” Mike smiled, yeah she just called him out but even an irritated Trini is better than a sad one. “The spicy buffalo rocks” So he was _clearly_ biased with the sauce he used as a default.

“Nope, we’re going to get the shitty one out of the way first” She did him a favor by opening his pure honey packet to ensure that if _she_ was going to have to eat this that he would man up and do it too.

Chicken Mcnugget sauce taste off went off without a hitch, for at least twenty minutes Trini was able to distract herself from her problems and really dig into the faux competition of which sauce tasted the best. Spicy Buffalo ranked pretty high on the list, Tangy Barbecue also scored high marks with both of them. Mike had a hard time with the Sweet n’Sour, it reminded him of a _bad_ evening of Angel Grove Chinese food incident. He should’ve listened to Mia, Jayden and Lauren’s warning, that the best Chinese food came out of Summer Cove but nooo he insisted that it would be fine and threw up for an entire night. It sucked that _that_ was the night he truly fell in love with Emily, she was so good at staying with him throughout the whole thing...even when he looked incredibly unsexy. Man if _this_ went well he could probably convince Trini to do another sauce taste test, and Kevin said this was _stupid_.

Once Mike made his official list on the first go around, they were free to eat the rest of the twelve nuggets in whichever sauce they wanted. Trini could sit back and relax, she was really a trooper for putting up with his little ‘fun’ idea. “I gotta say, you make a pretty good fake boyfriend DeSantos” The pair often joked back and forth since their, trying to look like a couple about to get some, incident in the Briarwood locker room. She looked like she had more on her mind, after a long swig of milkshake she made the sad comment, “My abuela would’ve loved you”

Oh no, no. He had _just_ gotten her to smile, he wasn’t going to let her bring herself down even further. “How does she feel about polygamy? Because I hate to break it to ya, Emily and I are a package deal” He was _clearly_ joking, that much was evident by the grin on his face, “I think we could make it work though...Emily’s great, she’s got enough love in her heart for the both of us” Now with nugget taste fest out of the way he could enjoy some fries, “And she can cook, it’s really not a bad deal”

“As tempting as _that_ sounds, I have a feeling it’s _probably_ frowned upon and she’d still shun me” At least she could have a sense of humor about this fake scenario.

“Hey hey hey” Mike laughed, proud of himself for this one, “You can just tell her that it’s _not_ gay if it’s a threeway” Other patrons in the restaurant were _not_ pleased by the conversation the two teenagers were having. Screw them, he got Trini to crack a smile...her teeth were showing and everything. That was a victory in the Mike Fernandez book.

“Oh god, why didn’t I think of that? You are just _so_ smart” Oh the sarcastic asshole was back for dinner and it felt so good. “I mean, I wouldn’t kick Emily outta bed….you _definitely_.”

“Ouch, I buy chicken nuggets for you and this is how you repay me? Where’s the love?” Mike laughed, though now he was curious, “Okay, okay who would you pick?” Trini tilted her head in confusion, “Your ideal threeway...hypothetically...for fun. If you had to choose someone”

“Nope, you are playing a dangerous game” At a fucking McDonalds no less. There were plenty of girls in Trini’s life that she could choose from, the girls from the softball team, the GSA, the general student body of Angel Grove, the staff of Angel Grove High-hey Mike was not a judgmental guy. Everyone had the hots for Ms. Johnson, the English teacher. “Who would you pick?”

“Gia Moran” Definitely. Even if the girl intimidated him….he would just be curious, in this extreme hypothetical that would never ever happen. Would he ever date her? No, not when he had the perfect girlfriend but in this hypothetical that wasn’t te question. There was _no_ denying that Gia Moran was one of the hottest girls in the entire town. A shallow answer to a shallow question. That quick response earned fries being thrown at his face from Trini, “What?”

“What is _with_ you and blondes?” So he clearly had a type.

 

*****

 

Mike didn’t agree with Tommy Oliver on a lot of points outside of the baseball field. He couldn’t deny that the mayor’s son was undeniably talented. Tommy had something special that if he stopped dealing with bullshit and focused, he could have a shot at the pros. No, the one time Mike could agree with Tommy with the topic of Briarwood was when those douchebags surprise blitzed them after practice with piss-filled waterguns. That was _disgusting_ on so many levels. With the constant back and forth between the two teams, this week was turning into a war and with war there was bound to be casualties. Someone was going to take it too far. Red and some of his guys were perfectly fine grabbing a girl and throwing her into a lake...last year they put firecrackers under Coach Finsters deck, Tommy was playing a dangerous game. Who knows what else they were capable of.

The senior baseball player had completely zoned out during his Spanish class, for him it was a complete joke, an easy A to bump up his grade point average. His mind was too preoccupied with the potential of what was to come that nothing around him felt that important. That was until he heard a quiet, “Mis padres no estarán en casa esta noche” next to him. _My parents won’t be home tonight._ Since they were in class they were _only_ allowed to speak Spanish but man there was something about his girlfriend speaking the other language that was so sexy. He looked over to her with a smile, oh boy alright, this could be his lucky night. Her eyes averted down to his feet...okay, weird. A neatly folded piece of paper rested against his shoe. His girlfriend had been trying to get his attention and the only way she was able to get it was through a proposition. That actually sounded about right.

He opened up the piece of paper to read, _‘Are you okay? Do you want to go for a walk after school?’_ ...Not quite what he expected. Did this mean they weren’t going to hook up? Mike bit his lip, would she be mad if he asked? He looked over, his girlfriend’s brows were raised expectantly, with a nod he agreed on going on the walk with her. Maybe if he played his cards right they could do a little more than _walking_.

After school the pair took advantage of the hiking trails that Angel Grove had to offer. Mike and Emily were both the outdoorsy types, between hiking, picnics, sitting out to watch sunsets and late night stargazing, they would frequently have dates out in the woods. The blonde wanted to bring her boyfriend somewhere he could relax and feel comfortable, a place where Briarwood vs Angel Grove wouldn’t matter. “You’ve been quiet all day, something’s wrong” She observed, “You barely ate lunch” Mike had tells, when something had been bothering him and Emily knew them all. “So” She intertwined their fingers as they walked up the dirt path, “You’ll feel better if you tell me”

“I have a feeling something _bad_ is going to happen, I can’t shake it” He sighed, “Tommy is poking a bull right now, and when they see red they charge”

“I think the phrase is poking a bear” Emily furrowed her brows, looking at the ground thoughtfully, that wasn’t the point. This wasn’t the first time Mike had brought up the subject of Tommy around her. “You have to let the Tommy thing go, we’re graduating soon, let’s just sit back and enjoy the rest of senior year. _Together_.”

“Em, he’s a dick” He didn’t even need to look over to know the girlfriend _look_ of disapproval, “I can’t just stand by and watch him run the team into the ground. This is my _last_ year” Jake, Adam and he would all be graduating...and as much as he loved Carlos, Cameron and Bridge….they didn’t scream leadership. If it were up to him alone Zack Taylor should take over the position of team captain, so he was biased, he liked good people. “I care what happens in the future” He couldn’t just graduate and never look back, he liked these guys too much, a brotherhood. “That party was _crazy_.”

The blonde let out a chuckle, “Oh I was there, and clearly remember _you_ were the one to start that fight” He was also the one who decided to turn the party from a fight to a shirtless sexy off with the Briarwood...the judges being the cheerleaders and softball team.

“Okay well” Yeah, she had him there, “That guy deserved it” As if he needed to defend his choice for punching Nick Russell in the face.

“And you think _Tommy_ deserves it?” Emily challenged, “You can’t just punch people you don’t like” Mike punched _one_ guy, what was she accusing him of here?

“He’s trying to steal Kimberly away from Trini” _That_ stopped the blonde in her tracks, she looked at her taller boyfriend with a stunned expression, “Yeah, he’s a douche”

“I didn’t know _that_ detail” She shook her head, no that shouldn’t matter, “Hm...you still shouldn’t punch him” No she still couldn’t wrap her head around this one, “Didn’t Tommy and Kimberly use to date?”

“Uh huh”

She paused, “And she broke up with him?”

Mike nodded, his free hand now finding a home in his jacket pocket, “Months before she and Trini even got together, yup”

“ _Wow_ ” Emily let out a deep sigh, she wasn’t one to cast judgement on someone but not letting go of a girlfriend after she clearly moved on was a tough one to just let go. “Wow okay” She wasn’t doing a great job distracting her boyfriend from his feelings. “Well, rivalry week is almost over, you just have to put all of this aside and get out of that game in one piece. Don’t let someone like Tommy Oliver mess with your head, it’s not healthy. You’re stronger than that...I don’t like seeing you like this…”

“I’m just frustrated” With all of this. He saw first hand what kind of damage a guy like Tommy Oliver could do while he was in charge. Popularity, money, and privilege certainly went to his head. “...But you know what would be a good distraction…” Hey if Emily’s parents really weren’t home he wanted to at least _try_. His coy smirk and raised eyebrows served as enough of a hint for the blonde to what was on his mind. “....blow off some steam….release this ah, pent up energy”

“Mmm, I think I know what’ll take your mind off of things” She loved her boyfriend, but he wasn’t very subtle at all, “I want to watch the sunset over the mountains” Emily leaned into his side, Mike wrapping an arm around her, he could go for a serene romantic setting. Even if it wasn’t _quite_ what he was looking forward to.

The pair continued down the path, taking quiet comfort in each others presence. It was hard to just _let_ _go_ of something he felt so passionately about, Mike Fernandez loved baseball and played hard to even earn a spot on the Angel Grove team. With almost all of the boys coming from a background with the local travel team, he had to prove he was worth the cut. Tommy being voted as team captain after playing for _one_ year was just a slap in the face to Mike. All of it was dumb high school drama, Emily was right he was _graduating_ soon and on track to leave this town...he had a future, a future with the best girl in the world if she’d let him. They found their viewing spot, a large rock with the initials MF + EA carved into the stone, Emily insisted that there be a heart around it. He wasn’t going to deny his girl. It was proof that they were here, they were together, and two young idiots in love. They weren’t the _only_ ones to do this. JDF+AJJ, LZ+RR, TB+EG even a KH+TG...generations of couples came to this very spot to take a moment out of their life with the most special person in their world. All of Mike’s problems could vanish into thin air in this instant, the image of the sun rising between the mountains creating a pink and yellow sky was beautiful...but the sun itself couldn’t compare to Emily Ava.

  
The next morning, the love of his life punched Tommy Oliver so hard in the face that he fell over and bled profusely….that was the moment he knew that she was _the_ one. He didn’t have a doubt in his mind that he’d someday marry his high school sweetheart.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about the little delay to working on wild pitch the main story, I promise, work on chapter 19 has already started. I just wanted to take some time off of that to work on gift fics.


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